1. Field
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator having a decreased capacity of a component compartment and an increased capacity of a storage compartment.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a refrigerator is provided with a cooling cycle which is represented by a compressor compressing a gaseous refrigerant of a low temperature and a low pressure to a gaseous refrigerant of a high temperature and a high pressure, a condenser condensing the gaseous refrigerant of the high temperature and the high pressure supplied from the compressor to be a liquid refrigerant, a capillary tube decompressing the refrigerant supplied from the condenser, and an evaporator evaporating the refrigerant passing through the capillary tube to have a low temperature under a lower pressure, thereby absorbing heat inside a compartment.
As an increasing number of consumers prefer a large-capacity storage compartment, a side-by-side refrigerator has recently spread in which a freezer compartment and a refrigerator compartment are disposed at left and right sides in consideration of capacity and storability for a stored items.
FIG. 7 illustrates a rear perspective view of a conventional refrigerator. As shown therein, the refrigerator includes a main body cabinet 103 shaped like a box having a frontward opening. The main body cabinet 103 is partitioned at right and left sides into a refrigerator compartment 107 and a freezer compartment 109. Further, a refrigerator compartment door 111 and a freezer compartment door 113 are provided in front of the refrigerator compartment 107 and the freezer compartment 109 to open and close the refrigerator compartment 107 and the freezer compartment 109, respectively.
A lower part of the refrigerator and freezer compartments 107 and 109 is provided with a partition to accommodate a compressor 121 and a condenser 123 to prevent a cooling performance of the evaporator that generates a cooling air from being deteriorated due to heat of a high temperature that is generated from the compressor 121 and the condenser 123. Conventionally, the partitioned area for the compressor 121 and the condenser 123 will be called a component compartment 115.
Since the temperature of the component compartment 115 increases to a high temperature due to the operations of the compressor 121 and the condenser 123, it is necessary to cool the compressor 121 and the condenser 123 by a fan 125 to circulate air around the compressor 121 and the condenser 123.
However, in the conventional refrigerator, the component compartment to accommodate the compressor, the condenser and the fan therein is placed throughout the lower part of the storage compartment divided into the refrigerator and freezer compartments, and thus partially occupies a capacity that may be assigned to the storage compartment of the main body cabinet. In other words, the component compartment decreases the capacity of the storage compartment, so that an inner space of the storage compartment is not efficiently used.